Drought in the South and East... How are you coping?

Dark Storm

Well I'll be a Krampus's Auntie! :D!
Jan 4, 2009
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Hadfield
Have heard today, that some regions are just days away from being announced as officially experiencing a drought... have any of you Southern/Anglian peeps noticed any worrying signs with the lack of rain?
 
Not really apart from our pond needs to fill up poor fish!

The paddocks are still quite wet believe it or not. We're clay here so the water just sits on top.

Just waiting for the grass to grow now. Well it's warmer now and wet in the mornings (dew) so hopefully it is starting to.

Horses need lovely green grass not hay :biggrin: Costing me a fortune over winter without any grass lol!
 
Top soil is damp but i have no mud at all and the big natural pond in the middle of my field is almost empty so yes, I have noticed the lack of rain this winter.
 
Reservoir on Euston Estate where we rent our land from is very low. We're being limited in the amount of water we're allowed already.
 
We're not being restricted as yet but I do wonder if it will come.... My field is bone dry and I said to hubby earlier, that I keep expect tumble weed to coming blowing by:giggle:

This is the driest that I have known it in years
 
I am in Wiltshire and it has been a very dry winter, am hoping for some decent rain in spring.

I only have one poorish doer so should have enough grass for him even if it stays dry.
 
My OH is a hydrogeologist so I have been hearing about for months,:nerd: :sleep: it's keeping him busy at work but not really noticed it with the horses yet - our fields drain well anyway but they have been much drier this winter. Thankfully the heavy dew and mists seem to be helping the grass get going on the summer fields..
 
Not much difference here to be honest, but I'd we have a dry March I expect it'll affect the new growth. Heard in the radio that Suffolk is going to have a hosepipe ban over the next month
 
Have had a reasonable amount of rain down here in the south west over winter,not loads like we have some winters (well and some summers lol),but enough to keep us drought free for a few weeks I would have thought.

My fields are still wet enough to be sinking when walking in parts of it,but then it is pretty much marsh land so to be expected.The higher bits are drying out nicely last few days though I have noticed.

Personally I can't imagine it ever being dry enough to cause me any real probs on my land.I could always get actual water to him as I live just up the road,and it would have to severely affect grass growth before I had to be concerned as my lad is a good doer generally and I spend most of the time wishing I had less grass anyway TBH.

I realise I am quite lucky though in that respect (one of the few upsides of being on low lying land I guess),and really do feel for people affected by such issues.
 
Its very dry here. As a fisherman a lot of ponds here are low. The brook near us i have never seen as dry. We normally have the odd flood in town. Been none so far. I can see it becoming a very big problem round here. I think stand pipes are not a massive idea away.

Part of me wonders why we dont desalinate to combat all this though. Surely the money it would save in tge long run and problems offsets the costs.
 
The local reservoirs round here are significantly lower than normal. Fields are still wet in places and grass is coming through well which is the one good thing about clay soil, it always seems to recover well.
 
I live very near to Lake Vyrnwy, which is a huge resivoir. Now obviously living in Wales we have had no lack of rainfall :giggle:, so the lake is as full as ever, what 'they' are saying is that the financial and environmental impact of actually pipeing the water out is to great????:eek:

So sorry guys, it looks like you cant have any of ours!:wink:
 
If they can put the Ninian pipeline in up here for oil, wy can't they put a water pipeline in and you can have some of ours. We got water, lots and lots of it ATM
 
Here in Kent we have already been declared a drought zone by the Environment Secretary and a hosepipe ban will come into effect on 5th April. There's just been a piece on tv telling us to have showers instead of baths and not to run the tap when cleaning our teeth etc, all the usual stuff that we do anyway. There is lot of wasted water due to leaking and burst water mains in our area as the pipes are so old but they are gradually being replaced.

Not washing the car or filling the swimming pool (two of the things we're told not to do) are not a problem, my car seldom gets washed and we don't have a swimming pool, but I do worry about getting enough straw and hay for the horses. Our FO hasn't let us down yet, he always manages somehow to get a supply and usually grows some hiumself as well.

I believe there have been discussions about a North to South pipeline but if anything happens it will probably take years.
 
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